Hello Lamb aka Louise Rhodes and Andy Barlow. A return to my very infrequent recreation of gig setlists, this time with a mystery to solve.
I saw Lamb live in concert for the first and only time at the Trinity Centre in Bristol with my friend Dave, possibly also with our work colleague Cath, not sure. It was definitely touring Fear Of Fours, so it was either 1999 or 2000. The support act - and, I'll be honest, the real reason I was there - was Smith & Mighty playing a full band set to promote their album Big World Small World, which was promoted in 1999 but not formally released until January 2000.
Unfortunately, I've lost the ticket and trawling the internet hasn't brought up any information on when the gig actually took place. As far as I can tell, Lamb did a few dates in the UK circa May 1999 whilst 2000 was mainly festivals or overseas gigs. So, I'm going to have a stab in the dark and say that the gig I went to was mid to late 1999. If anyone out there was there or can shed any light on the actual dates, I'll be very grateful!
I was a big fan of "The Bristol Sound" (biased, being as it was my birthplace), trip hop and drum and bass in general, but I couldn't quite get into Lamb's music at first. I loved debut single Cotton Wool, though the standout was A Guy Called Gerald's remix and their choice of remixers for the follow up singles was impeccable.
Something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but it was almost a feeling that Lamb were trying too hard to be cool. Completely my own response but it put me off getting the first album and embracing their music.
Earlier in 1999, my friend Stuart and I went to New York for a short holiday. It was last minute change of plan: we'd originally been planning to go to Reykjavík, with probably some romantic notion of walking the streets of Björk's birthplace. The only snag was it was way out of our budget. Conversely, New York was ridiculously affordable, not least because I only booked accommodation for the first couple of nights and thought we'd wing it for the rest.
I won't retell the story of our NYC trip, which I partly touched on in my recreation of the Blondie gig we went to whilst there and the rest of which is best saved for another post. Getting back to the point of this post though, we did a bit of record shopping in New York and one of the CDs that Stuart picked up was Fear Of Fours. It was regularly played for the rest of the holiday and was the turning point in my appreciation of Lamb.
So, whilst they weren't the primary reason for my visit to the Trinity that night, I was more disposed to like Lamb than I had been previously. My vague memory is that Smith & Mighty were unbeatable, but Lamb acquitted themselves pretty well. I've never seen them live in concert since but I would be tempted if Lamb roll into a local venue in future. Their last album was released in 2019, so there is hope.
So, in the absence of any gig info whatsoever, I've gone for a composite of three gigs performed in 1999 with very minor variations in songs and running order. Unsurprisingly, the setlist draws heavily on Fear Of Fours, so I've swapped out several album versions with remixes by sympathetic acts such as Klute, The Herbaliser, Fila Brazillia, Rae & Christian and Mr. Scruff.
1) Soft Mistake (1999)
2) Little Things (Klute Mix) (1999)
3) B Line (Herbaliser Mix) (1999)
4) Lusty (Album Version) (1996)
5) Cotton Wool (Fila Brazillia Mix - Alternative Version) (1996)
6) All In Your Hands (Rae & Christian Remix) (1999)
7) Ear Parcel (1999)
8) Alien (Album Version) (1999)
9) Softly (Radio Mix) (1999)
10) Fly (1999)
11) Gold (Mr. Scruff Mix) (1996)
12) Górecki (Album Version) (1996)
1996: Gold EP: 11
1996: Lamb: 4, 12
1997: Vrooom! Motorcycle Loveliness (Select magazine promo CD): 5
1999: All In Your Hands EP: 2, 6
1999: B Line EP: 3
1999: Fear Of Fours: 1, 7, 8, 10
1999: Softly EP: 9
